Gearing for grain drills



Feb. 12, 1952 R. R. BORNGRAEBER GEARING FOR GRAIN DRILLS 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed Nov. 25, 1949 INVENTOR. R CE R. BORNGRAEBER R. R. BORNGRAEBER GEARING FOR GRAIN DRILLS Feb. 12, 1952 2 SHEETS SHEET 2 Filed Nov. 25, 1949 4\ \\\\\\YS i 28 IN V EN T 0R.

Patented Feb. 12, 1952 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE Royce R. 'Borngraeber, Horicon, Wis., assignor to John Deere Van Brunt Company, Horicon, Wist, a corporation of Wisconsin A plication November 25, 1949, Serial No. 129,391

The present invention relates generally to agricultural implements and more particularly to planting implements, such as grain drills and the like.

The object and general nature of the present invention is the provision of new and improved drive gearing between the driving and driven shafts of a grain drill or other implement. More specifically, it is an important feature of this invention to provide a speed-change mechanism between the driving and driven shafts of a grain drill, which includes-two reversible and-interchangeable compound gear members, with new and improved supporting means for the reversible and interchangeable compound gears, whereby the desired change of driving ratios may be secured with a minimum number of relatively simple and inexpensiveparts and with a minimum time required to effect the desired changes.

More particularly, itis an important feature of the present invention to provide a new and improved gear hanger and new and improved gear-supporting studs or bearing members attachable in different and definitely determined positions on the gear hanger so as to definitely and positively dispose the compound gear members in the proper position to mesh not only with each other but also with the associated driving and driven gears of the grain drill.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a grain drill in which the principles of the present invention have been incorporated.

Figures 2 and 3 are side and top views of the gear hanger.

Figures 4 and 5 are fragmentary perspective views, showing two out of a possible five diflerent positions of the compound gears on the gear support.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 66 of Figures 2 and 5.

Figure '7 is a perspective view of one of the gear-supporting studs or bearing members.

Referring now more particularly to Figure l, the grain drill in which theprinciples of the present invention have been incorporated is in- 3 Claims. (o1. 74-325) construction so far as the present invention is concerned. The grain or seed box 2 is-mounted on the rear portion of the frame 3 by suitable end brackets i fixed by bolts 8 'to the-frame end Y members 5. The grain drill frame 3- is supported by suitable ground wheels (not shown) at least one of which is connected by a driving chain or the like to a drive sprocket 9 which is fixed to the outer end of a jackshaft [0. The jackshaft i0 serves as a drive shaft for the seeding mech-' anism of the grain drill which conventionally includes a feed shaft 1 2 and a feed shaft gear I 3. The grain drill also includes a drive shaft gear M which is controllably connected to be driven from the jackshaft In by clutch means, a

portion of which is shown at l5 in Figure 1.

A change-speed mechanism, with which the? present invention is more particularly concerned, a serves to connect the feed shaft and drive shaft gears I3 and M and will now be described.

A gear hanger 23 is adapted to be fixed to the grain drill frame 3 in a position adjacent-the gears I3 and I4 and comprises a generally vertically disposed plate section 2! having at its' rear end a pair of tappedopenings 23 2\nd. 24

into which a pair of machine bolts 25, extending through'openings 26 inthe vertical flange 21 of the associated-frame angle5, are adapted to be.

threaded, as best shown in Figure 3. The for-' wardmost tapped opening24 is disposed in an outwardly extending boss 28 carried by the plate taching lug 29. hanger 2D is also provided with a pair of laterally outwardly extending locating lugs 31 and 32 dicated in its entirety by the reference numeral I and comprises a seed box 2 mounted on a frame 3 which is made up of a plurality of transverse angles 4 and end angles 5, together with suitable braces and the like, generally of conventional which are adapted to overlie the horizontal flange 33 of the frame" end member 5. The rear end of the attaching lug 29 is beveled, as shown at 34 in Figure 2, so as to clear the head of the rear bolt-8 that fixes the end bracket to the frame 3.

The drive is transmitted from the driving gear 14 to the driven gear I3 by means of a pair of reversible and interchangeable compound gear members 35 and 31 tachably mounted on the gear hanger 20. The

compound gear member 35 comprises a smaller gear section 4| and a larger gear section 42,"

and the other compound gear member 31 is of similar construction, including a smaller gear section 43 and a larger gear section 44. Pref- (Figure 4) which are de-.

than the gear section 42. In one form of the present invention the gear section M has eighteen teeth, the gear section 42 has twenty-five teeth, and the gear sections 43 and 44 have fifteen and twenty-eight teeth, respectively.

As best shown in Figures 1 and 2, theplate section 2| on the gear hanger 20 includes raised portions I= and 252;? eachwof which 1is"pr0v-ided-" with a. plurality of sockets, the section. 5i .hav.-. ing sockets 53, 54 and 55 while the other section 52 is provided with sockets 56, 51, 58 and 59.. Each socket is generally polygonal in. configura: tion with its intermediate sockets merging "intoand blending with the end .=sockets.. However; each socket includes a pair ofpcdiametricallyyope posed portions, being in the preferred formriofu the present invention opposite ,corneinportions of a square. One of the compound gear members 35 and 3! is adapted to be fixed to one-on the other of the gear hanger portions 5| and 52 while the otherrcompound gear member. is adapted to .be' mounted on the other. gear hanger portion; To this end, Iiprovide .a gear-receivingl stud .63, best shown in Figures Band 7, for each; of the compound gear members and 31-. Each; stud 53 comprises a tubular -member including i a generally cylindrical; gear-receiving section 54 having at one end a-gear-receiving flange 65 extending generally radially beyond the-cylindrical section 64 and. at the other end a smaller squared socket-entering section' 66; Two of such :studs 63 are provided; and*the squaredportion- 65 of either: mayenter r and- -be nonrotatably connected to 'thehanger r in anyof --the hanger socket I sections: 53-59,- inc1usive;- Each of the square sockets 53 -59' is provided with a tapped opening 59 which is adapted to be ;alined with .a' bolt-receiving, opening 'I I 12' formed in eachstud 63. Each studjis iadaptedtozbe fixed in position 'in-any one--of'the sockets-.53-59 by means ;of a machine bolt '13, the threadedzend of which is adapted to be screwedinto'the opens ing'59 ;in"the=associated socket. The outerz'endof each" of the :gear-receivingi studs 63 -isr pro-'- vid'ed with'ia tapped' opening 14'to1 receive alubricantfitting, the interior'ofthe-*stud: being enlarged; as at 'I5,-"to form a'lubricantreservoir:

It will beseen from; Figure :1 that theludrivenz: andzdriving'gearszI3'and I4 are carried ,byrthei: grain drill in' a spaced=apart:relatioir thatzis: fixedctfor any particular'drill, and "that:the:driv ing gear I4 is 'Ofi$ufH'Cient"Width?.tO be meshed: withzeither' of 'the: gears .35: or. 3']; irrespective of whether the 1- larger" gear section: thereof is? disposed adjacent the '-other' side of the grain: dril'l'i or" facing" inwardly thereof; as: shown: in, Figures! and'5, respectively." It will also '-be.= seenifrom Figures'4'and s 'that'eitherrof the? compound gears35'and 31 may be disposedfwithi either one'or the-other'of its gear sections :in: mesh with the feed" shaft" or' driven" gear' I3. However; aswill be readily understood, the dis position of one or the other of the compound gear members 35 and 31 in' a-'- position'to have its smaller or its larger section meshingswith: the driven gear I3-calls for 'the :support" of its stud "53 -at different distances radially fromav the axis of the feed-"shaft- I2: Likewise;v thBdlS-i position of the other of the? compound: gear? members "so as to have-r one or: the other of its 1 gear sections-.;in=mesh with' oneof the gear .-sec-.-' tionss. of the compound gear meshing with.- thedriven-gearr I3 also; callsforthe disposition-of. the other gearrsupporting, stud-l 63 r at different radial distances from, said one compound-t gear l 4 member and also from the axis of rotation of the drive gear I4. The first mentioned variation in the support of the compound gear member adjacent the driven gear I3 is provided by ihe three sockets 53, 54 and 55, while the last mentioned variation in the support of the other compound gear member is provided by the four sockets;56-'53; 4

In :order tosprovide an easily understood and conveniently available way of determining the positions of the two gear-supporting studs 63 onitheshangerlll for any desired driving ratio between thegears I3 and I4, I prefer to form letters; A:=.through-.G;. on the gear hanger 20 i -djacent the sockets, 53-53, respectively, the gear'mem-bers- 35 and-'31 also carrying the same letters .AthroughGv arranged in the following manner: The letters'A and F are formed on thesouterrside of the larger gear section 44 of ihe compound gear 3'! while the inner face, ad-

jacent the'smallergear section, 43, carries the' letter G. The .outerface of the, larger. gear.

section 42 'of the compound gear member-H35- carries the letters B and E while, at the other...

side of the-gear. member 35, the outer face-,.of the smaller gear section 4I carries the letters C and D. The hanger-carried letters and thegear-carried letters therefore form indexing means whereby the-operatorv may easily and. quickly ascertain the" positions:in whichthe studs 63 are to be attached to the gear hanger forthedesired arrangement of the compound gearmembers 35 and 31.

4 and v5;

Referringvfirst to Figure-4, it will be seen that in this "particular-selection of gear ratios, thegear.3'| is:so:disposed that itslarger section-44 is in a position .to'mesh with the driving gear l4; in ,whichgposition of' the gear 31 the letter'G frees-inwardly of thedrill, which renders the" inner face easily observable by the operatorarrangingthe drill for operation. gear 3! to the position shown in Figure 4, therefore requires that "the stud 63'for the gear 37be .rlsposediinth'e forwardmost socket -59-ofthe gear hanger 20; the socket '59 being adjacent the letter G'on'the gear-hanger: The chosen'positiorrof'the other compound gear member '35; in the gear ratio'selection assumed, being tha't'in :"fih'ich'the lettersC and'D are showing, the stud 53 forthe compound'gear member 35 will there-- fore be'disposed'in the socke't55, which is opposite the'letterC. The fact that in this position of the gear member 35 the letter D is show- :t 'eg'isof'no consequence sincethe set of sockets 53-55 do not have the letter D associatedtherewith. The speed' ratio afforded'by the arrangement of the gears 35 and 3'! in Figure 4 is fairly high being only slightly less than the speed of :tie driving shaft'or jackshaft II). If a slightly slower speed of thefeed shaft IZ'is'desired, the compound gear-members 35 and 31 may be arranged as shown" in'Figure 5. To secure the change from the gear: arrangementshown in Figure 4 to'the gear arrangement showninFigure- 5 all that it isnecessary to do is to reverse each of the-gears-35 and 31. When reversing the gear- 35, for example, itwill be seen that the smaller section M is to mesh with the gear driven gear :i3. This requires a repositioning of'thegear To bring the structs the operator, therefore, to reposition the studs 63 for the gear 35 by removing the machine .bolt 13, placing the squared end 66 of the stud 63 in the socket 54, which is the socket designated by the letter B, and then ,reinserting and tightening the machine bolts 13. The fact that in this position of the gear 35 the letter E also shows is of no consequence since the group of sockets 53-55 does not have the letter E as-..

sociated therewith. Since the stud 63 for the,

gear 35 has been repositioned, it will also be necessary to reposition the stud 63 for the gear 31. In the new position of the latter gear the letters A and F are showing. This instructs the operator to place the stud 63 in the socket58,

which is opposite the letter Fin the second group The socket 58 is so located of sockets 56-59. that when the stud 53 is fixed therein, the m'em-fl ber 3'! is in the proper position to have its larger section 44 mesh with the larger section 42 of the gear 35 and with the driving gear I 4 on the jackshaft I0.

It is believed that the other possible positions of the compound gear members 35 and 31 need not be illustrated. It may be mentioned, however, that three additional arrangements are possible, namely, (a) smaller gear section 4! and compound gear member 35 meshing with larger gear section 44 of compound gear 31 and the smaller gear section 43 of the latter compound gear member meshing with the driven gear l3; (b) the larger gear section 42 of compound gear member 35 meshing with the larger gear section 44 of the compound gear member 31, with the smaller compound gear section 43 meshing with the driven gear 13; and (c) the larger gear section 44 of the compound gear member 31 meshing with the smaller gear section 4| of the compound gear member 35, with the larger gear section 42 of the latter compound gear member meshing with the driven gear 83.

The seating of the squared end 66 of each of the gear-supporting studs 63 in the associated squared socket in the gear hanger serves to hold the associated gear stud against rotation, the gear stud being firmly fixed to the gear hanger by the tightening of the associated machine bolt 13. This eflectively fixes the stud or bearing member for each of the compound gear members to the associated gear hanger so that rotation of the bearing member relative to the hanger is prevented, whether the gear members be rotated in one direction or the other. Since the gear hanger sockets have tapped openings receiving the threaded ends of the stud-attaching machine bolts, the connection of the studs to the gear hanger is facilitated since the operator is not required to manually hold nuts or the like on the outer side of the gear hanger while screwing the stud-attaching bolts into position. Since the gear hanger is firmly and rigidly fixed to the frame of the grain drill and the various stud-receiving sockets 53-59 an integral and fixed part of the hanger, it will be seen that the gear sections of both of the compound gear members, in whatever position they may be mounted, are always in proper and accurate mesh with one another and with the associated driven and driving gears l3 and I4.

The forwardmost end of the gear hanger member 20 is provided with a laterally outwardly extending lug 80 (Figures 3-5) which at its. outer end bears against a wheel supporting plate 8|.

Theengagem'ent between the lug B0 and the Wheel support 8|, to-which aground wheel (not shown) preferred structure in which the principles *of' the present invention have been incorporatedit is to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the particular details shown and described above, but that, in fact, widely diiferent means may be employed in the broader aspects of my invention.

What I claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a grain drill having a frame and a feed shaft gear and a drive shaft gear journaled thereon, the improvement comprising speedchange mechanism adapted to connect said gears and including a pair of compound gears, each having gear sections of different diameters, a pair of gear studs, one for each of said compound gears, each stud including a gear-receiving cylindrical bearing section and an axially arranged polygonal boss at one end smaller than the diameter of said bearing section, a gear hanger having two sets of polygonal sockets spatially arranged to receive said polygonal bosses of both of said studs in a plurality of positions and to hold said studs against rotation, the spatial arrangement of said studs accommodating reversal and interchange of said compound gears while disposing them in mesh with each other and with said shaft gears, means for fixing said studs in selected sockets, and means for connecting said gear hanger with said frame.

2. In a grain drill having a frame and a feed shaft gear and a drive shaft gear journaled thereon, the improvement comprising speed-change mechanism adapted to connect said gears and including a pair of compound gears, each having gear sections of diiferent diameters, a pair of gear studs, one for each of said compound gears, each stud including a gear-receiving cylindrical bearing section and a non-circular hanger-engaging section, a gear hanger having two sets of non-circular sockets spatially arranged to receive the non-circular sections of both of said studs in a plurality of positions, each of said noncircular sockets including generally opposed stud-positioning portions adapted to engage a stud and hold the same in a given position on the gear hanger, thereby accommodating reversal and interchange of said compound gears while disposing them in mesh with each other and with said shaft gears, means for fixing said studs to said hanger, and means for connecting said hanger to said frame.

3. In a grain drill including a feed shaft gear, a'drive shaft gear and speed-change means connecting said gears including a pair of reversible and interchangeable compound gears adapted in any one of a plurality of different positions to intermesh with each other and to mesh with said gears to connect the latter in driving relation: the improvement comprising a pair of gear receiving studs, a gear support having two sets of stud-receiving portions, cooperating locating means and said studs including non-rotatable interconnectable parts on said studs and said stud-receiving portions, the latter being spatially disposed on said gear support so as to accommodate reversal and interchange of said compound gears while disposing them in mesh with each other and with said shaft gears, and means for vifiszpwzfio a: idq ear p rt Number..

B Y E 3-, O IIGE EBER; 1,462,67 1,467,939 EF RE E IT 5 1,944,672 Thea-(following references are .of record in thev 295317-94 fileojvrthis patent:

7 Number Name Date Whittingtqn July 24, 1923.1 Knap Sept. 11, 1923 Shaefier Jan. 23, 1934. Keith Sept. 8, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Nov, 24, 1947- 

